“I thank God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you.” (Philippians 1: 3-4)

One of the most beautiful acts we can perform for another is to lift them up in prayer. It is something we can do at any time, in any place, and in doing this we can realize God’s beautiful presence not only in their lives, but also in our own.

In the midst of the “stuff” going on in our lives it can be so difficult to see the truth of God’s blessing and answer. I know this for a fact, for I have felt it on many occasions. The burden seems especially heavy, the sky seems unusually dark and the pain feels as though it has come to stay. In these times, as much as I know God is right here with me at every moment, and I am never alone, it can be tough. We all feel those emotions of being overwhelmed at times, not knowing how we should go forward, or even what words we ourselves would want to say in prayer. Turning to someone we trust to lift us up in prayer can have a powerful effect for us in knowing we are not alone.

There is such power in having others lift us up to God in sincere and faithful prayer. As others lift us up they can see beyond our concerns and burdens and they can see the reality of God’s blessing for us. I have always found it helpful to know that another is “holding that space of perfection, of truth and of healing” until I can see clearly enough to recognize it myself. When we pray for another we have a wonderful opportunity, and responsibility, in holding that sacred space of Gods truth for them. In our prayer for another we are to be crystal clear in our own minds that the power of God is present and moving in that, and every situation. We must absolutely know that the answer to this prayer is already known in the mind of God and that it is revealed to the one for whom we are praying in a way that is clear and that they will be able to recognize. The more belief we, as the prayer, have in the power of God’s blessing, holding that space in absolute truth, the more we will be able to help those with whom we pray begin to see that truth as well.

My friend Rev. Amy Butler has written, “None of us ever does the work of the Gospel community alone.” How true, and how magnificent. With one another, and with God, the miracles we seek for another become a gift to us as well.

Affirmation: “The truth of God’s beautiful miracle is at hand. It is revealed to me perfectly and I am ready to receive it.”

I was looking at the liturgical calendar recently. We are in what it says is “Ordinary Time,” this time between Advent and Christmas, and the beginning of Lent with Ash Wednesday. Ordinary Time. What an odd thing to call it. As I look around at the world I have to think, this is no ordinary time. In our ever changing and revolving world and the ever-changing events of our lives, how would we begin to say anything is ordinary?

Well, I suppose, unfortunately what has become ordinary is turmoil, distrust, hatred, lying and backstabbing. To me, what should be ordinary is love, togetherness, joyous community and the experience of living on earth as it is in heaven.

In 1940 Franklin Roosevelt was seeking an unprecedented third term as President of the United States. It had never been done before. We were still in depression, war had broken out in Europe and it was clear it would soon become a World War, most likely on two fronts. A major crisis. The country needed continuity of leadership during this time of crisis, but a third term as president had never before been done. How to proceed?

FDR did not want to go to the Democratic Convention and place his name in nomination. He was far too clever and far too much the master politician to do that. But he had a plan.

In the end he prevailed upon his wife Eleanor to speak on his behalf.

What she said to the convention that night and what she reminded them was that “this is no ordinary time.” It is no time to be complacent. We cannot afford that luxury. It is no time to let down our guard and isolate ourselves, but to move forward with the faith to do that which can be done and which must be done.

These times in which we live today are anything but ordinary times.

But I wonder. Was there ever such a thing?

You hear certain people, certain politicians, long for what they call the good old days. Days when they say life was simpler. Many of them long for what they call the status quo, the peaceful. They long for the 1950’s.

But the 1950’s were not so wonderful for everyone. Not so good in the 1950s if you are a minority. Many in the 1950s were living through a time of hate and distrust, a time of Jim Crow and lynchings. Women too were confined to certain roles and if you are gay or lesbian, forget it. You are considered to be suffering from mental illness. This was no ordinary time.

It was also into such a time that Jesus was born into this world. It was into such a time that he came to upset the status quo and proclaim a new order. But he didn’t do it without a cost.

The Christ was born into a time of crisis. The Romans were pitted against the Hebrew people and demonstrated their own brand of Jim Crow.

I can just imagine two Roman soldiers standing on the street corner of Main and Broadway in Jerusalem. One turns to the other and says, “It’s too quiet today. We need someone to start up some mess. But wait, here come two Jews. Let’s provoke them into something so that we can get our daily dose of satisfaction. So I can get some blood on my sword. So I can go home this evening and tell my wife I had a good day.”

Jesus was born into no ordinary time.

And even for Jesus the Jewish leaders, the Pharisees and the Sadducees were pitted against him. It was no ordinary time. Wherever he went and in whatever he did there were those who were ready to persecute and torment him. As events were to unfold Jesus very earthly world was forever on the brink of falling apart. There was that which needed to be done, but was there the strength to see it through? How was he to continue with his message of love, and peace and inclusion in this hostile and unpredictable world? How was he to continue with the cards of the deck stacked against him?

Jesus did what he would always do. He turned within to that place where he always found the fullness of Spirit/God.

Each time we turn within we find again that perfect love that always awaits our turning to it, recognizing it and affirming its presence in, through, and as our lives, so that our future moments can be filled with hope and possibility. Each time we turn within we know we are called to share this love with each and every person we meet. No matter who they are, they too are Spirit’s creation and they too are deserving of love.

The answer is to always come from the place of unconditional love. That, in a nutshell, is the gospel message. Each moment we live is filled with extraordinary opportunities to share love and comfort with others. Each moment is ours to grow and to learn and experience the fullness of all those things that make our lives truly the experience of living on earth as it is in heaven.

Each time we turn within we encounter an amazing Spirit that welcomes us, comforts us, lifts us up and sets before us wonderful blessings. This is how we get through this and every moment. This is how we become instruments to changing our world, one thought at a time. And this is how, one day, we will understand the true meaning of living on earth on as it is heaven.

“Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way.” (Matthew 1: 18a)

After a lengthy account of the genealogy of Jesus the gospel writer Matthew begins to describe how the birth of Jesus came to be. This beautiful story reminds us of the humble beginning of the Christ. No one imagined that the long awaited Messiah would be born in a lowly stable and placed in a manger, a feeding trough. In Luke’s gospel he writes, “I decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you.” Luke then proceeds to give us a very different account than Matthew wrote. Put together, this is the birth story we often see in pageants and think about when we tell the story to others.

But there is another story of the birth of Jesus and that is the one of how Jesus came to be made known in our individual hearts and minds. This is the story that truly shapes our faith and our personal walk with the Christ.

We can meet the Christ again and again as we turn within and feel the presence of Spirit comfort and bless us. We meet the Spirit of the Christ anew when we let go of earthly limitations that speak only to our own abilities and allow the Christ to move us forward in ways we had never before thought possible. We, of ourselves, can do little, but with the presence and direction of the Christ unlimited possibilities open before us.

Later in the gospel of Matthew we read: “Many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what hear, but did not hear it.” (Matthew 13: 17)

We fail to see because we fail to look. We fail to experience because we fail to surrender. Jesus is born anew in each of us with our every thought and breath if we trust in the power of the Christ to change our lives. Celebrate today that the Christ is born again within you and that your recognition of this beautiful presence blesses you this day and always. With your every thought and every breath a new beginning awaits.

Affirmation: “Unlimited possibilities bless me this day and always as I allow the Christ Spirit to open my heart and mind with childlike wonder.”

“I thank God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you.” (Philippians 1: 3-4)

I watched the recent fires in Southern California on television. The Skirball fire in the Hollywood Hills was close enough to me that the ash fell from the sky covering the yard and car and creating extremely bad air, requiring the curbing of outdoor activities. Last Sunday I was preaching in Ventura, where the Thomas Fire had devastated so many homes and uprooted thousands of people’s lives. Consequently church attendance was low as people endeavored to put their lives back into some kind of familiar order. As I watched the television I felt helpless to reach out to minister to those I knew felt abandoned by God, challenged beyond their ability to cope and with deep feelings of being completely forsaken. All I could do was know for them, that was my prayer, knowing for them that God had not forsaken them. God had not abandoned them, and my prayer was that they would somehow come to know that they had a comforter who would see them through.

One of the most beautiful acts we can perform for another is to lift them up in prayer. It is something we can do at any time, in any place, and in doing this we can realize God’s beautiful presence not only in their lives, but also in our own.

In the midst of the “stuff” going on in our lives it can be so difficult to see the truth of God’s presence. I know this for a fact, for I have felt it on many occasions. Our burden can seem especially heavy, the path forward can seem unclear and uncertain and the pain we have feels as though it has come to stay. In these times, as much as I know God is right here with me, and that I am never alone, it can still be tough. We all feel like this at times.

There is such power in having others lift us up to God in sincere and faithful prayer. As others lift us up they can see beyond our concerns and burdens and they can see the reality of God’s healing for us. I have always found it helpful to know that another is “holding that space of perfection” until I can see clearly enough to recognize it myself. When we pray for another we have a wonderful opportunity, and responsibility, in holding that sacred space of Gods truth for them. In our prayer we are to be crystal clear in our own minds that the power of God is present and moving in this, and every situation. The more belief we, as the prayer, have in the power of God’s blessing, holding that space in absolute truth, the more we will be able to help those with whom we pray begin to see that truth as well.

My friend Rev. Amy Butler has written, “None of us ever does the work of the Gospel community alone.” How true, and how magnificent. With one another, and with God, the miracles we seek for another become a gift to us as well.

Affirmation: “The truth of God’s beautiful miracle is at hand. It is revealed to me perfectly and I am ready to receive it.”

“What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)

How easy it is to look around our lives and see all the things we wish were different. As we concentrate on those things, and they become to dominant direction of our thought, those things we wish were different only multiply. When instead we stop, change direction, and count our blessings, giving thought to the things going well in our lives, we soon begin to notice that those are the things being multiplied. Through each positive thought, each positive affirmation of life, we are experiencing a powerful affirmative prayer. Not only are we thankful for all that God has provided, but we are saying thank you to Spirit/God for all that will be provided each and every day to come. We walk humbly with our God whenever we realize that through God’s grace we are blessed abundantly.

“Then the fathersaid to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’” (Luke 15: 31-32)

In the parable Jesus told about the prodigal son we find an amazing ancient story that still speaks so vividly and truthfully to us today. (I refer you to Luke chapter 15 if you wish to read it again in its entirety).

Here we have a story about a young man who decides he wants his inheritance right now, even though his father is still alive, and taking that inheritance he journeys off to experience life not only on his own, but left to his devices. From the very beginning we can see that he has set himself up for disaster. He is going to rely completely on his own abilities, hope that circumstances always move in his favor and take the gifts he has been given through the largesse of his father and throw away that with which his father has blessed him.

So what happens? This young man discovers that he is ill prepared for the world he has encountered. He is unable to use the gifts he has been given wisely and soon finds himself at the very bottom of life’s circumstances. From his life of privilege he is now so low and defeated that at last he begins to understand the lessons his father was seeking to instill in him.

So what does this story teach us for today? I would submit that it teaches us everything about the unconditional love of God waiting to be lived in and through each and every one of us.

I think we each have our “Prodigal Son moments.” Think about it. The amazing and lavishly unconditional loving presence of God is always available to guide, lead, inspire, nurture, support and bless us, but too often we begin to think that we can do it all on our own. Most often this occurs because we get distracted by life and the demands of daily living. Our focus shifts to what needs to be done in that very moment to surmount a challenge and instead of pausing to remember we are supported by loving Spirit, we move into “react mode,” where we respond with a kind of reptilian impulse that all too often just makes our circumstances worse. It’s not that we are bad or faithless people, it’s just that our humanity has at those moments overtaken our better spiritual self. We forget that with whatever is happening in life it is our right thinking, our affirmative faith and our positive actions that are available to us to move us forward co-creating new possibilities with the omnipresent Spirit of God. God is with us to inspire and be the energy and vibration that supports our being and doing, and it is up to us to remember that we can call upon this energy and vibration of Perfect Spirit and return to our place of rightful inheritance.

What this parable of Jesus reminds us is that whenever we choose to return to trusting and calling upon God that Spirit (like the father in the story) rejoices and receives us back. Each and every time. Without recrimination or punishment, but with joy and happiness that again we are celebrating this meaningful relationship. We may make this return to Spirit hundreds of times in a single day and that is wonderful. For each time we remember we are loved and blessed we can celebrate another victory and another homecoming.

I personally take great comfort in knowing that I can always bring my thinking and my awareness back to Spirit/God. I can always with a simple shift of my thinking return to a place of calm assurance that I am being blessed. Even the chaos of daily life becomes a blessed time when we remember we are never walking alone.

Affirmation: I know that through all the chaos life may present I can always return to the presence of Spirit/God right where I am at every moment and feel renewed peace, calm and happiness.

“TrustGodfrom the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen forGod’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; God’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all.” (Proverbs 3: 5-12)

“God can only do for you what God can do through you.” (Eric Butterworth, author)

I have a question for you. What are you really hungry for today? Sometimes we get hungry, like for that double chocolate cake with the rich chocolate icing and after two bites we wonder what we could have been thinking. Now, we hurt. Too rich, too heavy.

There are those things that we think will satisfy our hunger pangs and then there are those things that will be truly satisfying. If we are satisfied with what we can do for ourselves we have stopped really growing in faith. If we think that it is through our own cleverness, ability, or charm that our lives will truly have meaning then we are missing out on experiencing so much more of life. If we are satisfied with what we of ourselves can accomplish then I think we have some thinking to do about our life.

God can give us great insight for our lives and as well as insight into how we can make a difference in the world. God wants us to grow beyond that which we think we are capable of accomplishing. God wants to show us a newness of life that can only be experienced in completely trusting what God/Divine Spirit can do through us. The miracles that we experience in our lives are those wondrous things that are beyond what we had previously thought possible. But what we think is possible is so very limiting and unfulfilling. Spirit/God can open our eyes and minds with a consciousness to understand and experience so much more. Theologian Richard Rohr has written, “God needs to catch us by surprise.”

Trusting God to lead us and then being willing to “go there” with God can be a bit scary. Good. It should be, because it is taking us out of our comfort zone. It is taking us out of what has been the routine of the day and I bet, even if that routine has served you up to now, experiencing more of the fruits of God’s Spirit in your life would be welcome. So, good, step out of your comfort zone and see what God has in store for you. Because we are trusting in God we can know we are working with a safety net. Yes, along the way we may stumble, but we will be picked up, dusted off and shown even greater riches of Spirit.

Affirmation: “I delight in the many ways that Spirit/God shows up in my life. It is amazing what a change in focus and thinking can reveal.”

In 1971 John Lennon wrote “Imagine,” a song that expressed his dream of world peace:

“Imagine all the people

Living life in peace…

You may say I’m a dreamer

But I’m not the only one

I hope someday you’ll join us

And the world will be as one.”

The life we desire, and the world we aspire to experience, begins anew when we realize that the presence, power and energy of God shows up for us through our thoughts. In our thinking. Even before the words can be formed our thinking was setting the stage for our experience. In our imagining, our seeing visions, our dreaming of dreams. Here is placed into the fertile soul of mind the seeds of that which we can nurture and begin to see bear fruit. We need to dare to imagine, to visualize and to dream that we may experience. But that planted seed needs nourishment in order for it to grow and show up in our lives in ways that have meaning, have tangible substance and worth. Let our imagining, our visions and our dreams then become our action. Our action in our words, in our smiles, in our embracing of another. Action in our service to others. Let our imagining be one of seeing love and light wherever we may be. Love that heals and encourages. Light that exposes the darkness of negativity and floods that space with a new Truth so that we may be transformed through the energy of the Christ Consciousness. Imagine peace in our community, our country and the world. See it, visualize it and then see and visualize those actions that can bring the dream to reality. Let our action become speaking out when we see injustice, reaching out to comfort those in need, let our action seek to do those things that will be part of a movement to change our world so that the worth and dignity of all people is celebrated and affirmed. All people. There can be no peace until the dignity and worth of each individual, regardless of nationality, gender, sexual orientation or faith practice is celebrated as a beautiful expression and path toward a greater realization of the presence of Spirit.

Our imagining begins with what it is we would wish to experience. Affirm that which we would wish to experience – proclaim that which we would wish to experience – and with grateful hearts offer up thanksgiving to God, that Spirit is indeed moving in our lives.

Imagination is powered by faith and followed by positive and intentional action. It is followed by new vision and possibility and it is powered by knowing that God can, will, and does indeed provide all that we need to move forward – with that imagining – to creating a new picture of our lives in vivid colors and textures.

Imagine and believe. Start now if you haven’t already and continue to grow in your vision each and every day. Each little step we may take is actually a mighty leap forward for us all. There is much we need to do under Spirits guidance to change our circumstances and our world, but the good news is we don’t ever need to do it alone. The outcome is not all on our shoulders. The same Spirit that gave us each the dream also gives us what we need to make that dream a reality. Spirit/God is shouldering the weight; it is our vision, our dreams, our faith and our action that can give that dream its direction and it is Spirit giving us the energy to move forward. Instead of waiting for the dream to become a reality before living within that vision how about we endeavor to start living that dream now, in each and every way we can, to move our consciousness toward seeing it come to life.

We have always thought too small, with too much limitation as to what we can do on our own. Celebrate the imagining, the dream, but always leave room for God to make that vision even more wonderful than our limited consciousness could have ever conceived.

Faith is always powered by action and one could even say without action faith is just an idea, not a lifestyle. It needs to be our lifestyle with our every breath and our every thought.

So let our action begin with thanksgiving and gratitude that our dreams are guided now and always by perfect Spirit working in and through each and every one of us. Starting from that centered place of joy we can move ever closer to not just imaging, but experiencing, miracles.

“God can do anything, you know—far more than you could everimagineor guess or request in your wildest dreams! God does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, this Spirit deeply and gently within us.” (Ephesians 3: 20-21, The Message)

“Never limit your view of life by any past experience. The possibility of life is inherit within the capacity to imagine that life is, backed by the power (Spirit) to produce this imagery, or Divine Imagination.” (Dr. Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind, page 187)

Affirmation: “What new imaginings can God and I bring to reality today?”

“What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are.” (1 John 3: 1, The Message)

I often write about this subject, in varying words, but I think it is important to continually return to, for the truth of who we really are can get so lost and confused in the midst of all that goes on around us. The events of our world, and the words of others can so easily tear us down. Events and words can only effect us if we allow them to. If we agree to participate in what the world and other people are doing we can soon build a hardened crust around ourselves and forget that through the unconditionally loving thought of Perfect Spirit we are so wonderfully made.

We are each spiritual beings having a human experience. So often in our thinking we have that reversed. We think we are first and foremost human, physical bodies trying desperately as we journey on this earth to connect with some form of spiritual truth. Our physical being however is just the human presence that we wear so that we can experience life with one another while we are here on this planet. When we realize that we are first spiritual beings our connection to Spirit/God becomes not only more easily understood, but lived.

God loves us so much, cares for us so much, wants relationship with us so much and God wants us to understand who we are. As children of God this beautiful spirit of truth and grace and unconditional love is the very core and essence of who we are. That is first, all else is built from that place.

So from being spiritual beings God has given us our humanness, our thinking minds and our ability for discernment. God has given us wonderful human experiences that can make our time on this earth the fulfillment of God’s kingdom here on earth. I think our humanity is terrific and wonderful. It is rich with possibility and can give us so much joy and happiness. Our humanity opens us to amazing revelations of Spirit that can act through us to make this journey we call earthly life so much more meaningful.

But, as humans we often experience physical things that can be overwhelming. Our bodies hurt, our hearts break, we go through dark places that seem endless and with seemingly no a passageway out.

Psalm 23 says, “Though I walk through the darkest valley.” Whatever that valley might be, whatever that burden we carry, we are guided back out into the light and restored to our rightful place in God’s house. The Master Teacher Jesus, through his life, his teaching and his resurrection has demonstrated for us that the Christ Presence, Christ Consciousness is one of pure love, inclusion, acceptance and affirmation. It is a non-judging, non-duel thinking consciousness that sees possibility in the face of limitation and hope in the face of despair. There is meant to be joy in sharing our unique individualities and a willingness to experience and learn from our shared experiences.

Our humanity is rich and prosperous with unlimited possibility when we know we are first and foremost spiritual beings living a humanity that is filled with the energy and vibration of perfect creation.

Affirmation: “I am forever standing in the presence of God on Holy Ground.”

“Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.” (Romans 12: 12)

Poet and author Marion Woodman has written a statement filled with truth: “A flower won’t open if I yell at it and say ‘Bloom!’”

Many of us spend much of our time yelling at life to become what we would like it to be. We try really hard to force circumstances into being a certain way and we often rail aloud if things don’t go the way we think they should. Just like our flower, we can yell at life all we want, but the truth is it is going to bud and bloom in its own time.

We do this with God as well. Maybe if we just prayed “louder” God would finally hear us. Maybe if we shouted and stomped our foot for emphasis God would really get the message. The answer is not to get louder, but to become quieter. We are never going to understand God’s answer over our shouting, but we will find it in the quiet, in the silence. In our stillness we will begin to understand and to see how the answer we seek is developing, growing and reaching out to us. Like the flower, we will see that our answer begins in a small way, grows with us through some time, and begins to bloom for us as our recognition and vision becomes clear as to what this answer means to us in a very deep and meaningful way. The more we begin to find comfort and peace in the waiting the more our answer will come into focus before us. Be still, be silent, be confident. God loves you and will show you all you need to know just when you need to know it.

Affirmation: “My answer began before my prayer was ever uttered. God is in my prayer, in my answer and also in my waiting.”